Module 2 - Getting Started with OpenBuildings

Description

This module contains exercises for getting familiar with the OpenBuildings Designer interface and terms.

Objectives:

• Explore the Interface
• Learn about the Floor Manager, Parts and the Datagroup System

WORKFLOWS AND RIBBONS

THE FLOOR MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

THE FAMILY AND PART SYSTEM

THE DATAGROUP SYSTEM

 

WORKFLOWS AND RIBBONS

OpenBuildings Designer's ribbon interface helps to easily find tools and commands. Ribbons are organized by workflow and Building discipline in the Building Design workflow. Each workflow consists of multiple tabs, which are organized by tasks.

• Architectural Ribbon
• Structural Ribbon
• Mechanical Ribbon
• Electrical Ribbon
• Data/Reporting Ribbon
• Attach Ribbon
• Drawing Production Ribbon
• View Ribbon
• Analysis Ribbon
• Drawing Aids Ribbon
• Help
• Modify Ribbon

 

Legacy 2D Lines and Cells can be accessed by using the CTDOT Workflow, Facilities tab. Custom CTDOT Sheet Production and Annotation tools can be found on the CTDOT tab. Sheet Production tools are covered in Chapter 13.

 

 

THE FLOOR MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

OpenBuildings Designer uses Floors as a means of organizing, designing, and reporting building information. By this method, designated floors define the physical location of portions of the building, relative to reference and site elevations. The floor serves as a type of container for building elements and components in the model that include walls, doors, windows, fixtures, furnishings, equipment, structural members, mechanical components (HVAC and plumbing), and electrical equipment at a given elevation.

Users can define a set of floors and associated reference planes and sub-planes on a project-by-project basis using the floor management system. Sets of floor planes (and associated reference planes) can then be shared by the team for all designs created within a specific project. The floor management system provides these two tools:

• The Floor Manager is used to create and edit floors and reference planes, including typical floors.
• The Floor Selector is used in the project models as an aid in modeling components on the proper floor elevation.

The Floor Selector is docked by default along the bottom edge of the application window. It deals with multiple Buildings, Floor definitions and Grid Systems. A floor/floor reference plane can be set as active floor by double clicking. Various tools to display grid model or setting grids active and accessing grid systems are integrated in floor selector interface.

 

 Floor Manager — accesses the Floor Manager list to set either the active Building or to create a Floor definition.

Adjacent to the Floor manager icon is the Set Active Floor list box which contains a hierarchical list of all selectable building and floors, and displays the active Building, Floor and Floor elevation when collapsed. The active floor elevation is displayed in-line with active Building (Building Name > Floor Name).

 

 

THE FAMILY AND PART SYSTEM

The Family and Part system describes the graphical representation of the components, this includes the symbology of the modeled components: color, line style, line weight, and the CAD level. It also includes settings for the symbology of the components in drawings generated from the model, such as the cut plane symbology, forward and reflective view symbology and patterning, for example concrete patterning when a concrete element is cut. The Family and Part dataset is considered to control the CAD standards.

Families are the main heading of components and Parts are specific components under the Family, for example, in mechanical design “Duct” is a Family and “Supply-New”, and “Return-New” are Parts under the “Duct” Family. Each part in the list is set to be placed on a specific level using different graphical attributes.

 

  

 

THE DATAGROUP SYSTEM

The DataGroup system assigns catalog property data to modeled components. Each catalog type has specific data assigned to it. Most OpenBuildings Designer placement tools include DataGroup information inherent to the object being modeled: walls, doors, windows, columns, beams, ductwork, HVAC equipment, lights, receptacles, etc.

The DataGroup system is organized by:

• Catalog Type - Any Building object or space having attached data, e.g., Walls, Beams, Ducts…
• Catalog Item - Any Building predefined sub-classification of object or space, e.g., Duct - Flat Oval, Flexible, Rectangular, or Round
• Catalog Instance - Any Building object or space placed in a model. The objects are considered as unique instances of the catalog items

 

Each Catalog Type and Catalog Item will come programed with initial dimensions and settings; the user will edit this as needed before placement.  In the Duct example the Size was adjusted as well as the Part. A Duct is preset to place as a Supply-New Part, but this Part can be changed as required.